On March 25th, we will be co-hosting a Census Twitter chat with our friends at PRE4CLE, Children's Defense Fund Ohio, and the American Academy of Pediatrics -- Ohio Chapter to spread awareness around the importance of participating in the Census. Sign up for our Twitter chat toolkit by clicking the button below.
The 2020 Census will decide how much funding our communities will receive for programs such as child care, home visiting, early intervention, housing assistance, food assistance, transportation, health care, and so much more. Not only does the Census determine federal funding levels for Ohio, but it will also determine how many seats Ohio will have in the U.S. House of Representatives. Learn more about the Census here.
Babies and infants are one of our most vulnerable populations and are in dire need of these programs during the earliest of years of their development. However, they are also the most undercounted population in the Census. In order to ensure that we continue to increase investments in these family supports, we need to ensure we count all people in Ohio -- regardless of age, citizenship, living arrangements, and so on. Everybody counts and we need your help!
Groundwork Urges Medicaid to Prioritize Young Children During the Procurement Process
The Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) has been seeking feedback from stakeholders and individuals about their experience with managed care and ideas for improvement as they conduct managed care procurement. Previously, Groundwork submitted an initial response and an addendum response to ODM's first Request for Information. Most recently, ODM released a second RFI and Groundwork, once again, took the opportunity to highlight the ways procurement can be leveraged to better support young children. We know that Ohio's Medicaid births account for over half of all of the total births in the state. As such, it is important for Medicaid Managed Care Organizations to deliver quality services to the young children they serve to help build a strong foundation for their healthy development and lifelong success. Read our comments to learn more about how we can leverage Medicaid to advance healthy early childhood development.
Ready, Set, Soar Ohio's Growing Coalition
Just a few weeks ago, we launched Ready, Set, Soar Ohio, a new initiative supported by a diverse, statewide coalition to ensure that more pregnant women, infants, toddlers and their families have access to the support they need to soar to their full potential. While we have grown our diverse coalition to nearly 90 members, we need your help in getting out the word in your community! Here are the ways you can get involved:
Join our coalition here and we will be in touch
Use our social media toolkit to share on your social networks
Watch and share our promotional video
Read and share our fact sheet about the state of infants and toddlers in your county
To learn more about Ready, Set, Soar Ohio, including a list of its diverse partners, visit www.ReadySetSoarOH.org. If you have questions about joining the coalition or about our social media toolkit, contact Julia Jackels.
Encouraging Counties to Invest in Prenatal to Three Agendas
This week, Groundwork and Ready, Set, Soar Ohio were featured in a webinar hosted by the County Commissioners Association of Ohio. During the webinar, Groundwork shared why it is important for counties to invest in upstream policies that support early learning and healthy development for infants and toddlers. Investing early will not only create better outcomes for Ohio's youngest learners, but also the future of Ohio's counties. To learn more about how counties can become more involved in prenatal to three policies, read our Building Brains, Building Communities resource.
New Resources for Early Childhood Professionals
Recently, OCALI's Center for the Young Child released the following new credit opportunities and resources for early childhood professionals.
Suite of Resources for Early Childhood Professionals
This new suite of resources includes modules for early childhood professionals to participate in to receive professional credit hours. Each module is approximately one hour of content covering a variety of early childhood topics. During each module, you will be provided with information and resources you can use in your setting right away. After completion of the module, you will receive a certificate and Ohio Approved Credit for participating. Learn more about this opportunity here.
Early Care and Education Seminars
Designed for early care and education professionals, this seminar will build your knowledge about infant and toddler growth and development information from prenatal and fetal development from the prenatal period through age 5, with a focus on before birth through age 2. This seminar will provide you with information and resources related to human development, developmental milestones, growth and developmental domains, and integrating skills across domains within natural environments and activities. After completing the module and the pass and post-assessment, you will receive a certificate and Ohio Approved Credit for participating. Learn more about this opportunity here.
Moms2B Opening in Montgomery County
This week, Groundwork attended an informational and listening session in Dayton to learn more about Moms2B launching their program in Montgomery County. Moms2B currently has 8 locations in Columbus where they host weekly sessions for pregnant mothers to learn how support healthy pregnancies and connect them to resources. Local stakeholders and professionals attended the event to learn more about the program and provided input to Moms2B on how they see the program working in the county. We are looking forward to working with Moms2B in Montgomery County!
Each week, Groundwork will now wrap up our newsletter by spotlighting a Groundwork Advisory Committee Member to share the great things these Members are doing for young children in their communities.
Adam Shank
Executive Director
Boys & Girls Clubs Ohio Alliance Website
Q: What led you to get involved in Groundwork Ohio's advisory committee? A: Our Clubs serve Ohio's K-12 kids in communities across the state. Supporting the work of Groundwork Ohio represents a necessary holistic approach to youth development. Q: What is your organization currently doing to help support young children and their families? A: For over 120 years Boys & Girls Clubs have provided programming for Ohio's kids, especially those that need us the most. Focused on Academic Success, Healthy Lifestyles, and Character & Leadership, Clubs provide a safe place to grow and develop outside of the classroom for more than 44,000 Ohio kids each year. Q: Tell us a fun fact about you. A: I have more pairs of shoes than anyone else in my family.